Private Tales The After-Storm

[Otto von Stehlen]

"The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load."
-Queen Elizabeth II​

Monster and people are often threats to any sovereign nation. However, there are forces that go even beyond any such individual force. Nature itself may attempt to quash the livelihood of the individuals attempting to carve out a living. A week long thunder storm, for example, with it's heavy rain and strong winds may prove itself a detriment to the people.

Some outsiders might have thought of the entire ordeal as some retribution from the Gods for some sin the people had committed. For a Strojlander, it wouldn't have been the first time the Gods had attempted to smite them down...and in the same vein, many felt it wouldn't be the last attempt either.

It might as well be a testimony to the Confederate's tenacity and grit, as barely a day had passed since the week long storm, and the citizens of Strojland had already gotten to work rebuilding. The most evident of these efforts were the roads; the main highway into the mountain ranges had already been cleared of any fallen debris. As one moved along it the highway, they'd spot soldier and civilian work crews, moving debris out of the way or conducting more extensive repairs to the roads.

The Von Stehlen manor was nothing like a noblemen's manor, as any form of extravagance that the place had was faded, almost unkept. Instead, the place resembled somthing of a military compound preparing for war. Men were everywhere, with convoys of men, wagons, and even long riders streamed in and out of the entrance in a constant bustle of activity. The voices of officers and NCOs shouted could be overheard in this organized chaos, directing the rank-and-file to and fore, giving instructions to men loading up wagons with various of cargo, or pointing to maps in an attempt to explain the order of execution.

Any strangers, however, attempting to approach the place was immediately halted by a formation of men outside, armed and vigilante, in-case of any opportunistic forces decided it would be a prime time to take advantage of the flurry of activity. However, upon presenting the signed letter requesting for their presence, the leading officer would dispatch a guide/escort for the strangers in question, whom would lead them on further into the compound.

Getting out of the courtyard didn't mean that the commotion would end. Even among the narrow hallways, brushing past the strangers with urgency, too concerned in their own thoughts to even spare a glance at them, even if they stood out.. Occasionally they'd hear shouting as they move, weather that be someone trying to communicate down two ends of a corridor or abruptly halting in the halls and giving instructions through the window. The hallways themselves really did resemble a barracks then some noblemen's quarters, with boxes and weapon racks lined the sides of corridors.

Eventually, the contractors ware lead to a larger door then most of the entrances they had past by. This was the most crowded of any of the rooms in the manor, as individual messengers, officers, and the like trickled in and out of what apparently was a study. Just peering inside, The most noticeable thing of this particular room were the stacks of paper all over the room, standing as tall as most individual people. The next thing one would realize was that the room was nothing but organized chaos; men squinting and reading aloud stacks of papers, hunched over tables in an attempt to write out words on parchment, or standing in pairs or groups discussing this or that. There were even men at the open windows lowering parchments of papers down in a basket to those below.

Yet even among such organized chaos, he was still very much noticeable. The Arch-Count of the Storjland Confederation, Otto Von Stehlen, the man with the title of "The Grim"...and it was evident why. Despite the flurry of those surrounding him, his expression remained indifferent and steady, but his eyes were inquisitive to any and all information flowing back and forth. Above all, he spoke with a rhythm of marching boots, collected and calm, yet instilling a sense of leadership that elevated him above the noise of all else...

"....I want the 6th Spears and 21st Halberds moved to District Five in support, send a wagon train along with the 8th Crossbows to support. Has anyone heard from the patrols down in the Schleiferwoods?"

"No sir, we're still waiting for a response..." "Sir! Baron Friedeberg has sent a message back! He can spare two regiments of spears, the..."

"The 11th and the 12th spears, I thought so...send them to help clear the Golden Pass, along with request to for Master Engineer Heinz to rendezvous with them there...I want our communications with the dwarves established by nightfall."

The Arch-Count was facing what seemed to be a massive map of the region, surrounded by men of both military and civilian uniforms. No doubt his aids. The map itself was covered in labeled pins of either numbered regiments or specific names, with an aid on the ladder pinning and moving them to the tune of the noise below. No doubt the Arch-Count was busy...as it would seem an introduction was needed...
Thane Jackdaw Lazule

 

[Lazule]

Alone she walked. Muddied boots splashing into the puddles gathered on the road.

This she had done for several weeks. Wandered. From town to town she drifted, approaching men and women, humans and dwarves and elves, all types of people, and simply asked them questions. In her voice there was no anxiety, no trembling worry that she may through some accident or mishap cause them to come to harm, and thus she had not stuttered once in this new time. And of course she felt no anxiety. Before she had valued their lives, these people good and innocent. Now, she did not. And the convincing that she should yet remained.

Hence her questions. At first she approached people without any regard for manner or tact, but this proved inefficient, even counterproductive; often those she approached like this outright refused to talk to her. An exception for inebriated men in taverns. The inverse. Nothing save the threat of invoking the right to self-defense would deter them.

So she learned. Improved herself. Another small tenet to include as she forged her new way of being. She mimicked if not adopted the social mannerisms she observed, and thus her success with accumulating answers to her questions improved as well.

Only, the answers she was provided from townsfolk and villagers of a wide variety of qualities--profession, age, sex, race, status, level of intoxication--were all unsatisfying. Disappointing? Once she had a purpose so clear. A purpose in which she found only joy--or perceived that she did. Now, aside from a ceaseless drive for more and more insight, she did not have such a purpose.

Her freedom, her absolute freedom, weighed heavily upon her.

And she wandered. From Brevick in the Allir Reach to this land so named Strojland. A small number of villages she had visited thus far. The storms came as she walked in her aimless journey, finding her between settlements. Soaked through, at last she found an old abandoned shed some distance off the road. Here she camped and rationed her traveling supplies until the week-long storm passed.

Such a lonesome reprieve provided time to think and reflect. On all the days since she had been Broken. On all the days before she had been Broken. The Monster Hunter Academy. Father's Tower. The six who died in order to create her.

She reached no new conclusions. But she found in that week of rain and thunder and lightning that her thoughts, at times reflecting the storm and at times standing in stark contrast to it, brought her a certain measure of peace.

Peace that was soon challenged.

* * * * *​

She walked along the road, her journey resumed in the abatement of the thunderstorms. There as she crossed a small arching bridge over a meandering river did she hear something over the gentle flow of the water.

A weak cry for help.

She stopped. Considered. Heard the cry for help once again. Looked in the direction from which the sound came. Then decided to approach.

She stepped off the bridge and onto the other side and off the road. The ground of the forest floor, glistening with the shine of the relentless rains, proved rough terrain, and she carefully walked down the slope and descended to walk along the river bank. Sloshing of wet leaves and dirt as her boots found purchase with each step.

And she saw him. A boy. His body half on the river bank and half in the river. A cluster of broken branches and splintered trunks of trees had collected around him and the rock he was pinned against from the other side of the natural debris. His head and his right arm was all she could see of him. A spot of blood from a cut on his forehead.

"Help..." he said again. His eyes were closed. Lips blue. Teeth and chin chattering.

She approached. Crouched down and looked at him. And she said, "Hello."

The boy gasped. Opening his eyes halfway was all he could manage. "Can...can you help me? I'm stuck. Please. I'm...really scared. I want to be home with my ma and da."

"What happened?"

Even in his dismal state, a quiver of embarrassment ran through his voice. "My ma calls it foolery whenever I play by the river. I like...to make little boats from leaves and watch them float. I...I fell in yesterday. I didn't listen to her and da. I didn't." A strange noise in his throat. "I'm sorry."

"What is your name?"

"Adrian. What's yours? Can you help me, miss? Please?"

She thought of the 'name' she had used her whole life. The name which now rang hollow and dead to her ears. So she lied to him. Told him a name she had heard weeks ago.

And she asked him, "Do you love your mother and your father?"

"Yes. Why...why wouldn't I?"

"Why wouldn't you."

"Yeah." He appeared confused. "I'm really cold. Can you hel--?"

"Why wouldn't you love them."

"What?"

She canted her head slightly to her right side, the locks of hair which covered her right eye shifting. "I seek only insight. To understand. You speak as though the love you hold for your mother and your father is without condition and a constant. Presupposed."

"I don't understand what you're saying, miss."

"Is the love you hold for your parents unconditional and constant? Or is it due to the quality that they are unique among others in that they are the ones who gave you life, your love for them therefore based on this condition?"

A tinge of nervous terror in the boy's expression. "I...I don't know. I love my ma and da. Please. Help me."

"Is there any reason why you would no longer love them?"

"What? I just want to go home."

She stood abruptly. Turned. And left back the way she had come, hearing the boy's pleas and the boy's apologies and the boy's desperate calls.

The river flowed behind her on the road. A serene sound.

* * * * *​

Hours passed before she encountered something else of note. A search party. A long line of men and women, walking side-by-side with considerable space between each, she and the road being at one end of this long line of people. She walked going one way, they the other, trudging through the storm-soaked forest and each calling out a name.

"Adrian!" "Adri-annnnnnn!" "Adrian!" "Adri!" "Adrian, can you hear me?"

One of the Strojlanders at the end of the line close to her glanced in her direction. Made wary eye contact with her. Looked with the gaze of a guard toward a suspected thief. Then his head went forward again and he resumed calling out the boy's name with the others.

She said nothing. Felt no obligation to speak.

* * * * *​

Yet, as time passed further as she walked through Strojland, a curious festering. A smothering feeling deep in the fire that burned in her chest.

The thing called regret. Guilt. Small like the peeking light through a tiny keyhole, but there, illuminating a distinct portion of her mind all the same. She felt no kinship with the boy nor with the large search party seeking him, for she was not human. She was a Fire which burned inside a gifted body, where once the heart of a daughter, cruelly slain, had beat and beat all the days of her life. She lay contained beneath the metal plate bolted to her body's chest. Outwardly, she appeared as them, the boy and the party of humans. But she knew--she always knew, before and after her Breaking--what she was truly.

A doll, pretending at life.

Thus the curious quality of the regret and the guilt. She did not understand why she should feel as she did. No awe or reverence or love was harbored for the boy or any of the people searching for him. For none of Mankind, Elvenkind, and all else. She was not as them and they were not as her. So why?

In this state of pondering she approached the Von Stehlen manor, head bowed in consideration and thought. The bustling sounds of activity, carrying over the walls of the manor grounds, caught her attention. She looked up. Saw said walls, the manor inside the perimeter of them, the formation of men standing guard outside the gate.

For the first time in that drenched week the sun poked through the clouds, spears of light purging the gray gloom that held tyrannical sway over Strojland's corner of Arethil. She looked up toward the sun, the Life Fire of the world, eye squinted. No urge to give praise, gratitude, as once she did every day without question. This--strange that it should happen now--piled onto the regret and guilt she felt, carving out a more substantial hollow in the core of her being.

She looked again to the Von Stehlen manor. To the guards out front and the commotion going on behind them.

Perhaps...she could help? With something? See if her endeavors in doing such provided any insight she would not have gained otherwise? An imitation of her former way of being. Performative discovery. Seeing how acting in the old model, under the guidance of Father's mantras, would affect her now.

She approached the guards. They eyed her much like that man from the search party. And she said, "Hello."

Two of the guards looked at each other. One looked back to her and spoke gruffly, "We'll not entertain idle talk at so dire an hour. State your business or begone."

She nodded toward the gate. "I seek to lend aid in any manner in which I can."

The other guard spoke to her now, "Do ye or do ye not have a signed letter from a Von Stehlen?"

"I do not."

The first guard let out a sneering pffft. "The hell is your name, foreigner?"

She thought for a moment. Considered deeply.

And said, "Lazule."

 

[Thane Jackdaw]

Sure, lack of employment was irritating and so was getting ripped off when fulfilling contracts in villages and small towns but nothing was more irritating than receiving a letter of commission from the Monster Hunter Academy. Yes, the monetary reward increased tenfold compared to the contracts he sought on his own travelling the world but that advantage was heavily countered by the fact that letters of commission usually were regarding high value employers such as governments, nobles and other influential personas. And they were a pain in the ass to work for.

Strojland wasn't far but the tempest wrecking havoc across the land had made his journey longer than he liked. At the first ray of sunlight and the dispersion of clouds, Thane galloped hard to make up for lost time.

Heavy chatter ahead of the road made him slow down and carry on carefully. It was not until he reached a bridge and peeked over it that he realized what was going on. A group of people were trying to bring to life, or wake up, a boy who had fallen in the river. For all the emotions he had been stripped from, Thane couldn't help but feel the anguish looming over their heads. He carried on, nothing he could do.

And nobles paid better.

The monster hunter was just securing his horse in the stable when someone approached the guards. He threw the rucksack over his shoulder, adjusted the steel sword on his back and went towards the entrance of the manor.

"I seek to lend aid in any manner in which I can."

"Do ye or do ye not have a signed letter from a Von Stehlen?"

"I do not."

"The hell is your name, foreigner?"

"Lazule."

A sour taste formed in the hunter's mouth. The name was familiar only to the extent he knew they were like him - a monster hunter. He had thought he would be working alone. This contract was getting worse by the minute.

"She's here for the monster hunting contract issued by your liege." Thane's husky voice interrupted the guard who was just about to protest again. "So am I."

"Monster hunters, my ass. More like monsters yerself." the guard spat on the ground.

Cat-like eyes stared at the man and the guard instinctively took a light step backwards. Thane produced the letter of commission and handed it to the man.

He spat again. "Get in, freaks."

The monster hunter shoved right through the two guards and entered the Von Stehlen manor. Whether Lazule followed or not did not concern him. The sooner he was done with working for a noble, the better.

If the manor was once considered a noble's house, Thane couldn't see it. It was busy and noisy as the Merchant Quarter of Elbion. Traffic of people moved out of their way, purposefully headed to do their various jobs. A few gossipy eyes and whispers from the manor's staff regarding the two monster hunters could be heard. The hunters of Elbion did not possess the knight in shining white armor reputation that the Templars carried themselves with. Thane's experience had found out that sometimes common folk would trust a ghoul more than they would a mutant hunter.

When they reached the Arch-Count's room, Thane realized the storm had not ended - it had simply moved into the confines of the noble's quarters. People were moving in and out, orders were given without even a pause to catch a breath. What architectural marvels the room possessed were drowned under stacks of paper. The 'beauty' of bureaucracy. Thane wasn't sure how the Count had not yet fallen nauseous to the disastrous flow of information he was fed on simultaneously. Alas, while the manor, both inside and outside, could hardly be made out for anything other than makeshift barracks, Arch-Count Otto von Stahlen stood out from the crowd. Noble's aura, common folk called it.

"Here-" Thane began but realized whatever he tried to say was drowned by the endless chatter. He cleared his throat and roared. "Arch-Count, you have issued a monster hunter's contract."

Lazule Otto von Stehlen

 

[Otto von Stehlen]

Not too long after the two strangers had entered the manor grounds...an observing captain clad in yellow called forth the officer manning the gates, whom had his back turned dealing with the manifest of an incoming cart. Upon arrival, said captain began expressing his observations to a...increasingly maddened officer...whom, upon the conclusion of the observation, quietly thanked the captain...and went back to his post...

Even from where they stood in the study, one could most likely hear the angry echos of reprimand being dished out near the gates...'bouts of unacceptable behavior and notions of latrine duty....

Such sounds were nothing more then a passing thought, however, for the Count at the center of it all. It was the trust in his subordinates to maintain the discipline through the ranks. But in such dire times as it was, there was a certain level prudence in hiring outside help...even if it wasn't "normal" protocol.

When the monster hunters first put forth the request, it was quickly drowned out by the rest of the room...as men and women bumped past the two, regarding them more like a nuisance for standing in the way for taking up space in the already crowded room. But eventually, one of the assistance took note of their presence, tugging on the Count's shirt, before whispering somthing to the man. Otto glanced over to the two, standing so out of place, before turning to his contingent and saying somthing that inevitably got drowned out by the rest of the room.

Whatever it was, it mattered little; Handing off the documents to another assistant, he gestured for the two Monster Hunters to follow him. His expression changed very little as he moved up, uamused and indifferent. Moving past the two monster hunters, flowing through the crowd with a sense of ease and control that you'd think he was walking forth in an empty meadow.

Outside the study, the Count would give the two hunter a once over, raising an eyebrow...though if he had any reservations about the two, he kept it to himself...a common trait among the vast majority of Strojlanders.

"So you are the two monster hunters?" The Count asked, looking between the two to reaffirm their identities. "Very well...your contract will be rather stright forward: The termination of a creature roaming about the Northern Schleiferwoods. We've received reports from the nearby township about an encroaching danger that took advantage of the recent storm to set up camp in that region...and given the damages we've endured from the storm itself, our resources are currently needed elsewhere...so the task falls to you, if you choose to still accept..."

Out of his coat, the Count brought forth another rolled up document, before presenting forth a quill that had been curiously attached to his clothes.

"If you two choose accept, I'll need a signature here from each of you on the line...and I hope you've read through the terms...every death from when you arrive on site will be a percentage off the agreed upon amount...we're paying a lot for your services, and we expect to get our money's worth..."

Weather or not they did choose to sign, the Count continued on his explanation on the next steps to be taken once the mission was underway...not swaying on his gaze nor his posture.

"When you are ready, you will meet up with Hunts-Corporal Erwin Geschwind down in the courtyard, whom will provide you with further specifics on your target....He will also be your handler for this contract, and the man who will verify the termination of the beast when you two do finish...He is under no obligation to assist you in your hunt, as he has his own assignment to fulfill in the area...Return with his signed report, and you will be paid for your efforts...do I make myself clear? Or do you two have any further inquires about the contract that requires clarification?"

 

[Lazule]

A new voice.

Lazule glanced over her shoulder, her eye tracking the man as he approached. He spoke on her behalf. Here for the monster hunting contract. And then the implication, that this man was a monster hunter himself.

Lazule did not subscribe to the oft-discussed notions of fate or destiny. The idea of orderliness in the world's myriad transpirings, that all happened according to a vast plan, the scope of which beyond the comprehension of those who walked upon Arethil. No. It made far more sense that things simply were. Certain actions producing certain reactions. That was all.

Perhaps this would have made for a counterpoint if she remained open to such, this chance meeting with a monster hunter. She had been tacitly searching for one since her Breaking. An unlikely coincidence of place and timing, but not impossible. Here she was, she with this man whose hair was long and silver. A monster hunter. Someone who lived a similar life, maintained a similar way of being, someone she may have seen in passing during her time training at the Monster Hunter Academy. His views would be valuable, given the quality of familiarity.

He produced the contract the guards asked to see and was allowed in. Lazule walked behind him with a keen and curious eye (and perhaps with a faint gracing of fascination) to his back. Followed his lead. The manor grounds and the house itself were both as busy as they sounded from the outside. Through the halls and shifting past people coming and going as they went.

She followed the man with the silver hair to another man, addressed as Arch-Count. The Arch-Count took the two of them aside from the cluttered study (some noteworthy similarities between that room and the study used by Father in his Tower) and back out into the hall.

He explained the contract to which Lazule was only moments ago unaware. Straightforward. Northern Schleiferwoods. An encroaching danger, a creature. Hunts-Corporal Erwin Geschwind. The Arch-Count mentioned the deduction of compensation for each innocent death, but Lazule found this irrelevant. Neither the currency nor the prevention of innocent deaths held any value to her. Perhaps they did to her fellow monster hunter. This, why he would value these things, was truly why she was here. And if not these things, what it was that the man with the silver hair valued, and why. Potential insights awaited, foundations for a proper way of being.

Lazule hesitated for a moment as the quill was presented. A quick glance to her fellow monster hunter. The thought brief in her mind, of wanting to see what he would do, and to copy it. But he had come all this way (for reasons she desired to delve into once the rules of her acquired social mannerisms allowed for it) and it stood to reason that he would at least sign.

So she took the quill presented and signed LAZULE on the document.

And she said, "Yes, you have made yourself clear. No, I have no further inquiries and require no additional clarification."

 

[Thane Jackdaw]

Leaving the study was a relief for Thane's ears. He'd prefer fighting strigas for the rest of his life rather than succumbing to that bureaucratic disease of a life. The monster hunter listened intently to the Count's words as he described the contract's details. When he mentioned the percentage decrease of every death, Thane was already in the mind set that they were set up to being ripped off. As always. Nothing in his expression or posture revealed that.

He took the quill from Lazule, if he discerned the signature right, and signed his own name of Thane Jackdaw. Rejection was not really an option. Gold weighted heavy.

"No questions." Thane lied tonelessly. He reserved the inquiries to the Hunts-Corporal who supposedly was to know more specifics regarding the 'creature'. The monster hunter's thoughts weaved as he tried piecing the puzzle of what the monster might be. Not many traversed through storms to set up 'dwellings'. If it had been a trivial pest infestation, like ghouls, he was certain the Count wasn't foolish enough to pay for the services of monster hunters; no, his soldiers looked capable enough of dealing with that. Something else, far worse, had set up a camp in the woods and Thane wondered if his alchemy kit was well supplied to take it on.

He was about to find out.

Otto von Stehlen Lazule

 

[Otto von Stehlen]

"Very well then, ..." The Count said, retrieving his quill and parchments from the two individuals. It might have not meant as much to some, but it certainly would have meant somthing to a legal preceding...insurance, you never truly know."

"Before you leave, there will be one more thing you will need this..." The Arch-Count reached back into his clothing to retrieve anther piece of rolled up document. This one apparently had some sort of seal that kept it together. "...since you will be working under us in these matters, I will be deputizing both of you. This means you will have the authority to question any Strojland citizen only on the matter pertaining to this mission. Show them this document, and they will most likely compile with their time. This document will also serve proof of your deputation to any higher ranking officials or officers, if for some reason you will need access to some sensitive information...though it will be at the discretion of the officer in question. They have the authority to turn you down and even revolk this licence, should you choose to do somthing unwise. Lastly, if you use any common ranged weapon, you may requisite spare ammunition from the local quartermasters."

Whoever took the document, after handing it off, the Arch-Count nodded...though his expression still remained as cold as iron.

"May fortune favor you enough to return in one piece." Was all he said in his monotone voice, before abruptly turning and headed back into his crowded study.

 

[Ace]

Everything was moving so fast...but one would suppose it made sense. The recent storm had been such a frightening event, with all the water and the loud thunderous crashes from the sky...it really did a number on everyone.

It made him sad thinking about it, as he rested his head on a patch of wet grass, watching as the men and women rushed about to their individual tasks. Watching made the canine anxious, as at the moment he had to stay put and wait. He should be out there with the rest, doing his part...instead, he was stuck waiting here.

His handler was currently talking to someone...leaving him to just lounge around. The canine had tried wearing himself out with a bit of pacing, but it did very little to subside his anxiousness.

That was, until his noise picked up on...magic? In the manor?

That was a curious spell, not many at home did the whole magic thing. But this one smelled...hollow...like deadflesh almost. The smell shared similarities to what the undeath smelled like, but with the smell of death more as an undertone smell then somthing more overt. It was hard to describe it, even if he could talk...but it just didn't smell like what somthing alive smelled, but it didn't smell anything like somthing that was undead. What was more eclipsing the smell of semi-undeath was rather.a smokey smell. That usually meant some sort of fire spell was involved.

Was someone burning a corpse with magic? Didn't smell like that, necessarily...but it certainly stood out from everyone else at the courtyard...it was coming from within the manor!

Standing up, with his handler not paying too much mind, the canine advanced towards a particular doorway, nose in the air as he followed the scent. What was so special about this doorway; It would be the one our dear monster hunters would exit...

 

[Lazule]

Thane Jackdaw.

This was the man whose actions she would study. Whose motivations she would scrutinize. Whose insights as a Monster Hunter she would inquire into. There existed still the potential for Thane's way of being and justifications for it to be unsatisfying, as had so many of those previously queried.

Lazule stole as quick glance at him, a tiny movement of her head and even tinier movement of her eye. Difficult to discern, his tone. Perhaps stoic pragmatism was his watchword, but pragmatism was merely a method in which a way of being was realized. Further insight could be gleaned later.

Very well then.

Her eye back to the Arch-Count, in a manner vaguely reminiscent of child-like guilt at being caught doing something forbidden. She listened, looked at the document presented, but did not take it. This partly on account of wanting to see how Thane conducted himself with the deputizing document, and partly because she deemed herself mostly insufficient to the task. Yes, the Arch-Count had said that the two of them were in fact deputized, but she surmised that Thane would serve best as the lead on any possible questioning. She had through means of her own and through Father's teachings learned to navigate human social interactions to an adequate extent, but she had never truly been adept at it.

The Arch-Count wished them a kind of fortune, and he departed.

Again Lazule looked to Thane, this time the look lingering. A blink as she considered options for opening dialogue. 'Breaking the ice,' as she had on occasion heard this scenario referred to before.

"Thane," she said. Another moment of consideration, her eye glancing down as she thought before snapping back up to meet his own. She--somewhat awkwardly--raised and extended her hand out to him. "I look forward to working with you."

The barest hints of motion suggesting a smile.

And she stood ready to follow him. Observe him.

 

[Thane Jackdaw]

The monster hunter took the parchment and settled it safely within an inner pocket of his leather armor. Used to working alone, Thane realized he had been taking much of the initiative despite this being a two-man contract. Out of pure pragmatism, he preferred it that way - after all he trusted his own method to survival the most.

Thane was already a step away in the opposite direction of the Arch-Count, headed towards the exit of the manor when he heard his name being called by his silent companion. She offered him a handshake. He glanced back and forth from the hand and to her eyes before he finally shook it as well.

"Right." he replied neutrally unsure on what exactly the 'correct' answer was. "Let's go find this Hunts-Corporal, see if he could be more helpful than the count." Thane gave her a reassuring nod and took point. Unbeknownst to most, monster hunters survived due to superior knowledge rather than superior physical feats.

Out into the courtyard where the Hunts-Corporal was supposed to be, Thane nearly ran into a mutt standing in his way. He looked at its furry face for longer than it deserved before he turned his attention on finding their point of contact.

 

[Ace]

The smell was getting stronger...but it wasn't that burning corpse smell either; somthing rather...foul smelling mixed into the air...but what made it odd was that it also smelt a bit...artificial. Anyone of those two smells now protruding through the air was not natural, least not natural in the sense of what Ace was used to.

The scent grew stronger the closer the canine approached the manor. Ace might have even went inside to find the smell...if the smells itself didn't come outside first.

Leaping to the side with a bit of a yelp, the exiting strangers had almost ran into him, and he might have bucked them back out of habit. Looking up, he meet eyes with the man with whitish silvery hair. They starred at each other for a moment, before the man looked away.

Odd...

Ace narrowed his eyes, looking from one to another with a suspicious look on his face. Neither of them seemed to be like anyone that inherently lived here...more resembled the people in the bigger cities...but then again, the Confederation accepted new people all the time.

What made these two rather interesting was the way they smelled; the one with silver hair definitely smelled human...but had artificial, foul smell...while the other didn't smell human at all, if anything, she might have been the source of the burning corpse smell...

...Wait a minute...

For whatever reason, at least to those looking, the canine infront of both Thane and Lazule began barking. One couldn't say his barks were overly hostile, least to those familiar with canines or beasts. But it might have startled someone...it certainly was attracting attention...as men began to slow down, eyes moving first to the do, then to the two monster hunters...whom's clothing along made them stand out among the uniformed men....

 

[Lazule]

They shook hands. Introduced, now, formally. That was the dictate of social norms for Mankind, as most of her experience and observation confirmed. Some curious exceptions that did not need mention.

And Thane took the lead through the halls made narrow by their crowdedness, guiding the two of them through the dutiful busyness of the Von Stehlen manor. Lazule thought initially that now, while they were simply walking, would be a good time to ask some of her questions--despite the general level of distracting noise in the halls. But she reconsidered. Recently, in accordance with her adapting her approach in deference to observed social mannerisms, she often found increased probability of receptiveness to her inquiries with..."small talk". This in combination with timing and relevant--or at least tangentially related--subject matter.

Perhaps as events transpired, Thane would become more talkative on his own. If not, she would have to attempt broaching conversation opportunistically. A degree of doubt in regard to this, her ability to do so in a natural, let alone elegant, manner.

Thane stopped. And Lazule bumped into him from behind. She...wasn't expecting the abruptness of that. Insufficient attention on her part.

A dog. Barking. Lazule came out from behind Thane and stood beside him in the courtyard. She gazed down at the dog with a quizzical uncertainty, only vaguely aware of the gathering locus of attention centered on her and Thane. She briefly considered using a Flashbang spell on the dog. Such would very likely scare it away and thus remove it from their path, but this solution seemed an overly aggressive answer. And neither Thane nor the others throughout the courtyard would appreciate the loud sound or the brilliant flash.

A small insight gained here. Measures of appropriate restraint that felt intuitively correct. Though further contemplation would be needed to explore the exact nature of said intuition and its associated feeling of correctness.

Lazule glanced over and up at Thane. Said, "Shall we go around? Ask these men as to the whereabouts of this Hunts-Corporal?"

 

[Thane Jackdaw]

He slightly felt Lazule bumping at his back and grumbled silently. If she was this distracted already, she might end up more as a liability in the hunt rather than an asset. Yet, he knew better than most not to hand judgments out preemptively.

"Yes." Thane replied amidst the loud barking of the dog before them. He looked back at the dog who did not seem hostile but neither did it look like it was going to be playing games. What caught his attention was the canine looked like a hunting dog rather than a stray street dog. "Or maybe he'll lead us to the Hunts-Corporal."

"Go, dog. Away." he motioned at it.

Lazule Ace